The right for anyone to request protection, or asylum, is inscribed in EU and international law and in the constitution of Greece itself. But in a move implemented in haste earlier this month and criticised by human rights lawyers, the government has over-ridden that principle for the next three months at least.

Greece and Turkey continue to battle major wildfires amid a severe heatwave. Temperatures reached 42.4C in central Greece at the weekend, with emergency services battling fires in the Peloponnese area of Athens and on the popular tourist islands of Kytheria and Crete.

Wildfires that have engulfed Turkey for weeks threatened the country’s fourth-largest city early Sunday, causing more than 1,700 people to flee their homes and leaving a firefighter dead.

The Tayfun Block IV will join Turkey's increasingly diversified ballistic missile arsenal, which also has growing export potential.

Turkey faces a “very risky week” for wildfires, an official said, as blazes across parts of south-east Europe and the Balkans damaged homes and led to a huge firefighting operation that included evacuations.